Jerome Wetzel is the Chief Television Critic for Seat42F and a regular contributing reviewer on Blogcritics. He also appears on The Good, The Bad, and the Geeky podcast and Let's Talk TV With Barbara Barnett.

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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The House falls in

Fox's House finished it's sixth season with huge developments last night in the episode "Help Me". If you have not watched the episode yet, please do not continue reading, as I do plan on discussing the shocking ending, including the scene cut from press screening copies, so I really will spoil everything for you.

The episode began with a different atmosphere than normal, House (Hugh Laurie) giving Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) the book her ancestor wrote. She seemed off, and the crisis of a crane collapsing sent them both rushing to a construction site, without time to discuss what was going on. Going without the theme song, House, of course, quickly found a mysterious case, but as Cuddy would not allow him to return to the hospital, his case of the week provided only brief scenes for the rest of the cast, and took a back seat to the real drama.

House found a woman buried in a collapse parking garage, and tried everything he could to save her leg. He was his usual rude self, but found compassion. That is not an unheard of story for the show. What was going on here that made it more than that was his insistence to save her leg, he himself having been miserable for many years because of his own bum appendage. Not only that, but in this case, House failed, as she ended up dying in the ambulance.

This sent House spiraling down his dark, demented path once more. Having been clean for a whole season, he ripped his bathroom mirror off the wall to find his hidden stash of narcotics. At this point, only one thing could save him from falling off the wagon. Cuddy. Coming to him, revealing she had broke up with Lucas (Michael Weston), and declaring her love for him. It's something fans of the show have been waiting a long time for, and his recent good behavior and maturity, well, relative to his past actions, have finally made him ready to be with her. A setback would have destroyed all that, so in retrospect, the ending was obvious and timely. And yet it was a shock. What will this mean for the show, if Cuddy and House pursue this relationship? How will it change him?

Also, Thirteen (Olivia Wilde) asked for some time off, her health seemingly declining. Will she be House's next patient, or the next one to leave the cast?

House has already been renewed for a seventh season, which will air on Fox.